Embrace The Fires
by Omicron the IceQueen
Summary: Study story. Embrace the fires from within...it might help if you, you know, put yourself back togather first.


**Embrace The Fires**

Waking up had been... a rather unpleasant experience and hard thing to do in all honesty.

He twitched spazzmadicly off and on as he struggled to come to full awareness. He had almost achieved that state of consciousness when a fact came to painful light, literally: fully 'waking up' was the worst idea he had ever had to date.

An all consuming nothing-ness was so thick and echoing that it was excruciating in a mental way that translated to the physical and then back. It would have kept on in a growing feedback loop but he had thrown away that higher level consciousness and sank back into that more instinctual sate. Metaphorically sagging as body parts eased from hyper-seizing to the proper twitching again.

While he waited for the time he could truly come back to land of the living, he poked and prodded at his memories. Something was wrong however, he couldn't grasp those memories anymore. They hung in front of him just out of reach of his claws (he had claws? ...niiice...), _just there_ all sparkly and shining in reflected glimpse of the sun from the memories. What he could sink his claws into were fuzzy and out of focused, more feelings that he knew others, and they weren't near.

How annoying.

Ah! There was light from outside the not really the memories- He would have screamed in protest if he could as the world exploded all around. Or rather_ he _into it, being ejected out of his resting place and sprawl over some gritty stuff that spilled into bare joins and far too loose armor and supports.

For a long while, he laid sprawled where he was, slowly identifying the gritty stuff all around as sand, though he couldn't see. Essentially blind he absorbed the heat from what had to be the sun above as he recovered.

Something was off...

Oh, half of his arm was off, as well as a leg and a knee down... his face felt strange too.

Alright, he could do this. He winced and cringed at the feeling as he felt around with his remaining 'whole' arm, the joints' armor and supports grinded painfully together. It had to be done though as he blindly worked around his landing area in jerks, dragging himself and searching for his other arm. But he couldn't find anything arm shaped, or leg shaped, or even foot shape for that matter!

Wait, what was this?

His hand closed clumsily fingers around the thing, dragging it closer before trying to identify what it was. The part he grabbed was round like a small tube, only solid. That was interesting. Feel downward... oops, that was sand, back up beyond the tube thing to-

OW!

...Okay that longer thinner and flat part was very sharp.

He through the sharp thing away and if he could hear would have head the long flat thing clang against the canister he came from. So, he obliviously continued to drag himself around until he _finally_ got his hands on something that was familiar.

Aaaahhh... that was his left knee and shin. He rolled over and twisted, contorting enough to tap the body part on the end of his stump to be sure it was where it should be. Then he slapped it into place. Not a minute after he flopped around he found that other blasted arm, then a foot, but not the left foot. Another time of feeling around blindly, running right into a wave, panicking, flailing, scrambling, pretending he _meant_ to check that close to the water, he found the rest of his body parts.

Great! Now what did have to do?

Oh yeah, grow back the rest of his body. _This_ was going to be so much fun.

Straining, concentrating and drawing on that type of energy that was in his torso just for this reason, he slowly, ever so slowly started that process. First in the torso, creeping along and over the main supports, limp reinforcements, parts, the underside of the armor. The new fleshy bits pushing the annoying, gritty sand out of his shell as well as coating joints before the harder, larger organic things had to be grown.

This was taking way too long, but though he tried, he could speed up converting energy into matter. So he laid there on his back side, annoyed but suffering the feeling of making half his body.

After an amazing eternity (which in reality was more like twenty-something minutes) long wait, he realized he had eyes again. So of course he opened both sets of lids and stared straight into the mass of light and heat that was the sun.

"Grraaarriissssk!" He yelled... or tried to yell, his vocal cords weren't fully back yet. He yanked his hands and arms up to block the light, but seeing as he wasn't used to moving again so he only managed to slap the back of his hand into his face with enough force to stun himself.

What a wonderful way to truly wake up.

Heaving and forcing himself up into a sitting position, he squinted around. Peering through his inner lid set that was firmly closed and blocking out most of the glaring light. He gargled, tried to speak again as the last of his person reformed into what it should be. A burning sensation of the need to _breath_ kicked in than and he lunged forward onto hands and knees in order to heave in a different way, his body automatically clearing his new lungs.

He watched as he retched up a thick, brownish fluid with hints of purple, blood, specking here and there in the stuff. The byproduct of re-growing one's organic parts, and once he got rid of the stuff, he shuffled away half a foot, gasping and panting. Getting used to breathing once more.

"Ugh..." He grunted and spat out the last mouthful, grimacing at the taste and smell, he pushed sand over the spot in an attempt to hid the mess. Not that there was anyone around but him, but the stuff wasn't nice in any way once it wasn't needed anymore.

Carefully, with the memories of his self-inflicted whack still in mine, he staggered up to his feet. Swaying a little more than a little from one side to the other as his body found it's center of balance, he looked around. Finding himself on a beach, which made sense with all the sand he'd been flopping through.

He blinked, tilting his head first one way, and then the other as he regarded the vast and seemingly endless sea before him. The surface of the rich sapphire waters were glinting in the sunlight like so many millions of lightstones (what was a lightstone?).

He jumped as a small Rahi fish broke the surface, leaping for a bug. He found himself several paces away from his original spot, crouched down and growling with the claws on his hands extended. It had been automatic, he moved without thinking. The moment he caught sight of his own claws though, his rather impressive growl (or so he judged it) cut off.

"...huurrmmm..." He purred in pleaser as he straightened, body already remembering how it should balance and act. Ignoring the world for the time being he took in his own form; from flexing the claws on his hands, extending and retracting them, the blank-grey armor of his forearms, legs, and the light in his chest.

Wait what?

He frowned, lifting one hand to the light that was faintly pulsing. He twitched as he felt his hand near it without actually touching the thing, and when he did it was a soft, careful touch. The thing was a living crystal, a part of him he knew now that he was paying attention to it. It pulsed in another way that barely visible way in the sunlight, a steady tri-pulse rhythm of energy... his energies. Yes, he knew what this was, just as he knew he was alive and had eyes and a heart.

His heart-light.

He looked around, the hand that had been over his heart-light moved up to face, aware now that it shouldn't be bare.

But what was missing?

He looked around, taking in the sands around him, the canister he knew he had been in for a very long time (the words 'Thousand year nap?' kept echoing in his mind) as well as its lid and... why was there something red reflecting light by the lid?

Interested and attracted by the metallic sheen, he peered down at the thing. He tilted his head slightly to one side, and then the other way as he crouched down in front of the smooth thing. Risking opening on inner lid for a better look before rumbling deep in his chest he reached out. A sense that he knew what this was even though he didn't know at the same time coming over him once again. He rose, turning the red thing, a mask... _his_ Kanohi over in his hands a few times as well as shacking all the sand off. It was a healthy, live color, and felt like _safety_ was in his grip, a good feeling.

Seeing the inside of the mask and a bit of something... a mouth piece was what it was, being in the right place. He lifted the Kanohi mask up to his face, biting down reflexively, his body knowing more then he now.

Something happened.

It was like swallowing down something thick like silver-water (what was that? And why did the image of someone slender and blue pop up in his mind?) repeatedly, and the mask itself conformed and became apart of him.

He rocked back and staggered against his canister as a new kind of heat that wasn't new at all, because the fire in his vains was _right_ and _true_ and where it should be.

With his mask-turned-face tilted up to the sun, he lifted his arms as his dormant power was jump-started. Surging though his limbs, starting from his chest and spreading out. Roaring in his inner ears and making the temperature of the air spike and increase.

Clenching his fists and trembling from the raw elemental energy coursing through him, yet not burning him in the least. There might be some strips of new glass around this part of the beach though.

Yes... this was him, Tahu smiled as he let out the breath he'd been holding and opened his red, orange and copper eyes fully. That glowing multi colored gaze swept around again until he spotted on of the other things that was missing. He walked over to the sword, stooping to pick it up, and then marveling at how the beautiful yet deadly thing was as it sat so perfectly in his palm. Like it was made just for him, and it could have been.

Tahu flipped the blade around a few times in one hand and then the other, finding that he could easily use it in either hand. Then the living elemental held the sword up, resting the flat of the blade in his right hand, staring at the intricate flame design that even with the gaps in the blade itself it lost none of its strength.

Purring again, Tahu found he could channel that inner-fire though his hand and into the sword. Fascinated by watching the blade start to glow from base to tip, he didn't pay attention that it _was_ glowing because of the heat.

What happened next was that Tahu essentially set himself on fire.

Roaring more from surprise at the flames going up his right forearm. He dropped his sword (making a nice patch of glass) and leapt backwards. Arm flailing to put out the flames, he only increased his own half panicked emotions, and thus fueling the fire to spread.

Shouting words that ranged from nothing to something that would have any youth slapped if repeated, the elemental did something like a flying Rahi impression and rain dance. Tahu's foot came down on one of those patches of glass and slid out from under him, skidding to the side and sending Tahu lurching forwards head over heels.

...right into the sea water.

The rouge fire was put out, along with a good chuck of Tahu dignity as he sat in the shallow, water lapping gently around his hips with long red and black legs stretched out. "Wonderful," He grumbled, voice rough as much from the embarrassment of what just happened as from disuse.

For a moment he didn't get up right away, considering what to do, and aware he should be doing something, searching for others like him. Not burning with inner fires, but other elements. Images of memories, fuzzy but having other beings that towered like he did at his side. That slender blue female figure that was cool and welcoming. Another lean figure but was bigger than the female and a playful green. The others shared a sturdy, steady presence he liked, one bigger than the rest and dark only in armor. Another playful spirit that was one of the two strongest.

The last figure was... sturdy yes, but different in so many ways and yet too much alike to Tahu.

Tahu looked down as his stomachs proclaimed to the world, but mostly to him, that they were _empty_ and that he had used up a lot of energy in the whole re-growing body parts session. Sighing Tahu got up, stepping as carefully as he could through the water and once on sand again (where there was no glass) he leaned over and gave himself a full body shake to rid most of the water off his person. Walking over to retrieve his sword, the elemental looked around once last time before heading off into the greenery of the tropical forest.

First, he needed to take care of his body. Tahu was no good if he found one of the others that were like him and he had just ran out of strength.

It took a while into his steady, ground eating pace before Tahu realized that he was heading in a specific spot, or area. He slowed, frowning before he was consciously aware that there was a great well of elemental power like and unlike his own inner wildfire, only that other source wasn't alive.

Well, it was better than no place to go.

So he fallowed the elemental pull and promise of power. As he went though, Tahu's pace slowed, his gaze taking in all the damage to the forest. It wasn't like a needed bush fire, but more like scattered and over lapped battles from many different times.

Growling, Tahu tightened his grip on his sword as the last traces of sea water evaporated off his armor and dark skin. He frowned at the patches of chard forest until, suddenly, Tahu stopped as he found himself in a landscape that had been devastated. Sucking in his breath in shock, and then letting it out in an angered growl, the living elemental stalked out into the devastation.

With each step that crunched the wrong way, puffs of ash formed. He walked casually in between the crumbling husks that had once been old trees that would have rose even above Tahu's older, dark colored brother (brother?). Movement above grabbed his attention and he paused, looking up to track the swooping movements of large flying Rahi.

His stomachs made noise again as Tahu's multi-colored gaze fallowed the Rahi as the guided down to land in the distance. Thinking more about the possibility that those Rahi would be edible he didn't focus on the middle ground where normally he would have spotted the small forms attempting to hide by their 'live' body heat.

But he didn't, so he walked straight ahead and into the trap set for a Rahi that much have been estimated to weigh almost the same as Tahu. Two things happened at one, harden wooden spears shot up from the ground in a cage like formation at the same time something rope-like tightened around his right ankle (the same foot that had slipped before) and was yanked upwards.

This left Tahu on his back, or rather his shoulders, neck and head were on the ground with his right leg up in the air. He also found out that the tree husks were stronger then they looked, but also that all his extra armor and supports were heavier than the more exoskeleton like armor of animal-Rahi. So, it was a very awkward possession that took some contorting to free himself, thudded down with a snarling growl before rising.

The little beings that were more like miniature versions of himself and those others of his memories halted in the dash over to the triggered trap. Two ran into others, unable to stop as the living elemental stood, towering over both the 'cage' and little beings that barely cam up to his knee. Scowling at the Kanohi masks that were tilted up, heads craning to take in all of him as the elemental's sword charged again.

All it took was a single swipe. The spears though were made of a hardened wood, were still wood. It all burned nicely to ash, the swords tip only sliced through a few, most of the burning have been from his will it seemed.

With the scant barrier gone, the litter beings that were like and unlike Tahu stared some more with open mouths, and wide eyes. Eyes that were glowing, not as bright as his, but still glowing in a range of colors and shades. From red to white, to blue and green, one of them even had purple in there.

Then, the biggest of the little ones with a dark crimson Kanohi, not the leader for that was the yellow masked one in front, gave a half hiccupping sound. What was surprising was with that odd sound, came a small... fireball.

Tahu blinked, taken aback and his simmering annoyance vanished only to be replaced by keen interest, "Now that's a trick." Tahu said, and evidently shocking the little beings that he could speak.

This was going to be an interesting day.


End file.
